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The relationships between the scientist perception and
scientific attitudes of science teacher candidates in
Turkey: A case study
Murat Demirbaş
Kırıkkale
University, Faculty of Education, Department of Elementary
Education, Elementary Science Education, 71450 Kırıkkale/Turkey.
Email: mdemirbas@kku.edu.tr.
Accepted
20 April, 2009. |
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Students
draw from several experiences such as testing their ideas,
developing searching skills and discovering the ways of
seeking information that will be necessary throughout their
life with the help of science. It is noted that the conceptions of students
concerning science, the nature of science and the scientists
have a positive or negative impact on the future profession
selection and the achievement level of the students in that
field. In this study, the scientist perception of the
teacher candidates were explored in terms of cognitive
conception, physical conception, source of conception, the
scientists observed in the milieu and the favorite scientist
variables. Furthermore, the relation between scientist
perception and scientific attitude were assessed by
examining the scientific attitudes of the students. In order
to identify the scientist perceptions of students, the scale
developed by Song and Kim (1999) and to specify their
scientific attitudes the scale which was developed by Moore
and Foy (1997) and translated into Turkish by the author
were used. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were
employed in the inquiry. The research comprised a single
unit of analysis (an individual, a school, etc.) therefore a
holistic single case design was used in the study.
Quantitative data were gathered using descriptive survey
technique. In the light of the findings of this study,
several recommendations were made including the need for
leading students towards activities involving the scientific
methods and conceptions of the students and the ways of
scientists.
Key
words:
Scientist image, scientific attitude, science teachers,
science education. |
